Did you ever notice that they always ask for TWO: two forms of ID please. Even when you go to apply for some form of ID, they always ask for two forms of ID.
When I applied for my driver’s license they wanted two forms of ID – My birth certificate and my social security card. When I applied for my social security card they wanted two forms of ID – I needed my birth certificate, but I don’t have a clue what else I used. I guess the only time I didn’t need two forms of ID was when I was born (but then again, they asked for two forms of ID from BOTH my parents…)
Two forms of ID. People ask for them when they want to make sure who you really are. They want proof; they want something that identifies who you are.
It’s no different with the Believer, a true follower of Christ Jesus. Jesus thought it was so important that He left us with two ways to show our identification with Him, two forms of ID. Both show what He did for us and that we specifically identify with what He did.
That’s the purpose of these two symbols or identifications that Jesus left for every believer. They are baptism and The Lord’s Table (Communion).
We will not look at the Lord’s Table other than to say that it pictures what Jesus gave up so that you and I could have forgiveness of sin and eternal life. The bread that is used pictures the fact (identifies us with) that Jesus gave Himself, his body as the payment for our sins when He hung on the cross. The grape juice represents (identifies us with) Jesus’ blood that was shed as He hung on the cross.
The whole symbolism of the Lord’s Table is about Jesus giving Himself as the payment for our sins. When we eat and drink the bread and juice we are showing that we have made what He did for us – something personal!
The other form of ID is baptism. We are going to talk about baptism this morning. Together I want us to discover three powerful truths about baptism that may be totally new to you.
Most people assume that baptism is something that gets done to us when we are babies. Our parents might have gone to a particular church and had us sprinkled as infants. Often such sprinkling is sort of a “baby dedication” or symbol that the parents will raise that child in that particular kind of church. Here at FamilyFellowship we do not baptize babies, but we do dedicate them (and their parents) to the Lord.
When our children were born we had a special prayer of dedication. We told God that we understood that He gave them to us and we would do our best to raise them as He wanted. We’ve tried to keep that promise to God.
But this morning we walk to talk about what we often call “Believer’s Baptism”. The command of Jesus that – after we accept Him as our Forgiver and Boss – we are to be baptized. So let’s lay out the basics and then I will share with you three powerful truths about baptism and how it will help you to daily identify with Jesus’ purpose for your life!
But before we go too far we need to understand what baptism doesn’t do.
(1) Baptism will not get you to heaven or “wash away” your sins.
1 Peter 3:21 “Baptism is not a removal of dirt from your body; it is an appeal to God from a clean conscience.”
(2) Baptism will not make you a better Believer – but it will show that you are obedient to what God wants.
We also need to understand what baptism is.
(1) Baptism is the act of being totally immersed
The word baptize is used several different times in the Bible. Each time it talks about being totally immersed in something: as a matter of fact the original word dealt with the act of dying cloth – immersing it into something that would totally change it’s color!
(2) In the New Testament Church baptism was the act of being totally immersed in water as an act of IDENTIFYING with what Jesus did.
(3) Baptism is a SYMBOL, a PICTURE of what Jesus did for us! It is a FORM of ID.
Baptism means to be immersed…and the picture of Believer’s Baptism or Water Baptism pictures what happened when we accepted Christ. It is me identifying outwardly and personally with what Jesus has done inside of me.
So what did He do? What does Baptism represent and why should I identify myself with what He did?
I. First, baptism represents WHAT JESUS DID FOR ME: He forgave my sins
Col. 2:12-14 For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to a new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead. You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ. He forgave all our sins. He canceled the record that contained the charges against us. He took it and destroyed it by nailing it to Christ’s cross.
This passage explains at least three things to us:
(1) I was dead because of my sinful nature
(2) Jesus forgave all my sins
He did not just forgive my sin, he canceled the record of my sins. That means there there is no longer even a record of my sins.
He took my sins and destroyed them by nailing them to Christ’s cross. When Jesus hung on that cross two thousand years ago, he literally became a "sin sponge" taking our sins into Himself.
(3) He made me alive
Now look at verse 1, “For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized”. He’s not saying we’re forgiven because of baptism, baptism is simply the picture. Baptism doesn’t really bury you, it demonstrates, it shows, what Christ did. We identify with what He did for us.
Verses 13 and 14 tell us, “You were dead because of your…God made you alive with Christ.”
Jesus died, was buried and then came back to life – and He did it for you and me!
When I am baptized I am publicly identifying – outwardly associating – with the fact that I have accepted what Jesus did on the cross FOR ME!
Baptist identifies me with what Jesus did FOR ME.
II. Baptism also identifies me with what Jesus did WITH ME: He gave me the POWER TO OVERCOME SIN
Romans 5:21 tells us "So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God’s wonderful kindness rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
Romans 6:1-7 (NLT)
Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more kindness and forgiveness? Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? Or have you forgotten that when we became Christians and were baptized to become one with Christ Jesus, we died with him? For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives. Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised as he was. Our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin.
(1) He gave me a “right standing” before God
(2) He gave me eternal life
(3) But that new relationship does not give us a “free pass” to sin
How would you feel if you heard that the local police department had given me a free pass to come to your house and take whatever I wanted. You know, steal anything I want without any repercussions from the law. The police would forgive my trespassing? How would you feel about that? Well that how some people assume God treats us. Yet, even though our sins are forgiven, that doesn’t give us the right to sin. Sin still hurts. It will hurt us and it will hurt others.
(4) We have new lives – the old doesn’t fit any more
(5) We were united with Jesus’ death & resurrection
(6) Sin no longer has power over us. We are free not to sin.
That’s why it says we are to consider ourselves…identify with what Jesus did.
Baptism identifies me with what Jesus with WITH ME – He gave me the power to overcome sin
What Jesus did FOR ME What Jesus did WITH ME
III. Finally, baptism identifies me with what Jesus does IN ME: His Spirit lives in me
1 Corinthians 12:13 (NLT)
”We have all been baptized into Christ’s body by one Spirit, and we have all received the same Spirit.”
Galatians 3:27-29 (NLT)
And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have been made like him…For you are all Christians—you are one in Christ Jesus. And now that you belong to Christ…
Ephesians 1:13-14 (NLT)
And now you also have heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us everything he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. This is just one more reason for us to praise our glorious God.
Look at what the Spirit does…
He proves we are saved Romans 8:16
He helps us pray Romans 8:26
He helps us share the Good News Romans 15:19
He gives us spiritual power to live 1 Corinthians 2:4
He reveals God’s truth to us 1 Corinthians 2:10
He lives in us 1 Corinthians 3:16
Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you? 1 Corinthians 3:16
He seals us 1 Corinthians 1:22
Ephesians 1:13
1 Peter 1:2
He guides us to do what is right Galatians 5:18
He produces God’s fruit in us Ephesians 5:22
He represents us before God Ephesians 2:18
He strengthens us Ephesians 3:16
Baptism pictures and identifies us with:
What Jesus did FOR ME – He died, was buried and came back to life so that my sins could be forgiven and I can know I am on my way to heaven
What Jesus did WITH ME – He empowered me with freedom to overcome sin
What Jesus does IN ME – His Spirit lives in me –
So what? How do those three truths make any difference in me?
(1) You can accept Jesus Christ – then show it outwardly through Baptism
(2) You can consider your new life – you have the power to walk away from/overcome the things that are holding you back from what God purposed you to be
(3) You can allow God’s Spirit to really do what He wants in your life
Today I will…
(1) Accept Jesus Christ as my Forgiver and Boss…I will commit my life to Jesus
(2) Make a commitment to follow through with water baptism as an outward identification of what I know Jesus has done in me
(3) Gladly accept the truth that the God’s Spirit lives in me (if I am a true believer). I will give God continued control of my life as His Spirit leads me through His Word.
